T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
 14
Crime and Punishment:
Justice and Capital Punishment
While society often takes a “pick and choose” attitude toward life
What’s the
issues,
the Catholic Church insists on the consistent ethic of life. This
Point?
session engages the youth in examining their opinions and feelings
about the Justice System using the example of the death penalty, then
puts them in dialogue with the Church’s seamless garment approach to
all life issues on issues dealing with societal laws.
Background
Information
Reference
 CCC: ¶ 2234-2246;2257-2269
 NAB : Gen 4:8-15; Ex 21:23-25; Psalm 139:13-16; Mt 5:43-48;
Rom 12:17-13:5
 USCCB: http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-lifeand-dignity/death-penalty-capital-punishment/
How do we think about justice when it applies to civil protection?
We can examine that in two ways: as our society and the societies
around us think of it or as God sees it. When we began this year we
spoke about the idea of Justice as being the notion that God makes sure
that everyone gets what they need. We intensely seek God’s Will in all
things and so we apply that idea to secular justice as well. Human law
has flaws but it should be our best attempt at making sure that everyone
gets what they need.
Human law is at its best when it reflects the Natural Law which gives
us that innate sense of justice and at its worst when it panders to or is
driven by base human appetites. Law which carries out God’s Will is
law that we can get behind. Many times during this year, this idea
comes up; laws which are unjust are not laws we can support, whether
they apply to immigration, health care, or any other number of issues.
When it comes to human justice, we must be careful that we do not
support any laws which seek vengeance when we should be seeking
justice. As the opening prayer reminds us “If you forgive others their
transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not
forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
This is as true for the capital felon as it is for the petty thief.
The problem may come for us when we frame the questions of
human justice: we may focus on the level of the crime rather than the
nature of forgiveness. We might make a parallel with Reconciliation;
focusing on the venial or mortal nature of the sin and not on the
forgiveness brought by the Sacrament. What I mean to say here is that
our primary focus is Justice, making sure everyone gets what they need
by loving unconditionally. This does not mean that we turn a blind eye
T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
to the sin or its effects nor does it mean that we level the playing field
and think of every sin the same way. Certainly a small lie and murder
are not on the same plane, but at the same time, when it comes to sin it
does not matter whether it is a small lie or murder: it is still sin and it
damages not just our relationship with God but adds to the burden of sin
in our world.
But as Jesus shows us, our job is not to focus on the sin but on the
healing which we can give to both the sinner and the world damaged by
that sin. We cast not the first stone but admonish “go and sin no more.”
But human justice can be a bit stickier. Most of us do not completely or
specifically control the means of justice, and we must live within and
respect human law, where it is worthy of that respect and obedience.
We call this concept “restorative justice.”
First then, we must marshal our own understanding of Justice and
consistently apply it across all of our moral dealings. We can make
rationalizations about life and about evil but we are still not the judge;
we cannot with one breath call for an end to abortion and with the next
call for the death penalty. The final judgment belongs to God alone.
Could Jesus have solved all of the social justice issues of his day with a
wave of his hand? Then why did he not do so? What do his miracles and
teachings have to tell us about how we should approach the issue of
criminal justice?
Prayer is at the heart of any understanding of justice. The psalmists
constantly call on God for justice; this should be what we do as well. At
the same time we must “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to
God what belongs to God.” (Mk 12:17) We must be good citizens by
both accountings. We must follow the laws of the land, just as police
officers must enforce the law. Their role is not to question but to
enforce. Our job though, is to question. When we find flaw, as seen
through God’s eyes not our own imperfect understanding of what is
flawed or not flawed, then that law is no longer justice and we must
speak out and work against injustice.
We all know about the right to life issues abortion and assisted
suicide, but when it comes to the criminal justice system then a good
example for examination we have is capital punishment. This is not to
say that other aspects of punishment, incarceration, racial and nonbiased
application, or any other of a host of strengths and weaknesses of the
justice system are not worthy of our time but are more complex then we
have the ability to tackle.
So we start here and we start as we would with any of these issues
with how we think about the problem. Start with human dignity. We do
not discount the victims but within our seamless garment framework we
think of everyone involved. Helping the victims is easy. It is easy to
have sympathy and compassion for those who feel the full effects of the
sin. Not so much for the perpetrators. Were those that have been found
guilty of committing a capital offense not created in the image of God
as much as the victims? Are their lives not due the same respect as an
unborn child or an elderly person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or
any other sinner? But wait a second, they took another life. What about
an eye-for-an-eye, or the idea of innocent live versus evil life? There is
T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
not distinction at that level.
Capital punishment though is one of those hard questions without an
easy answer and “anyone who says differently is selling something.”
When we turn to scripture we can become even more confused. Exodus
21:23-25 tell us “ But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound
for wound, stripe for stripe.” and Romans 13:3-4 “ Do you wish to have
no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive
approval from it, for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do
evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the
servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer.” While Genesis,
Matthew, and Romans tell not to avenge murder and to love thy
neighbor. So what are we supposed to do?
Both. That is the nature of God’s wisdom – it takes in all sides; it is
seamless. Above all it is based in Love, in God Himself, not in what we
think or desire.
So our task is to get two things across to the teenagers: 1) God
forgives, and 2) the Catholic Church is not explicitly against capital
punishment, but in this day and age with our prison system, it is not
always necessary. By the end of the session they should understand that
revenge has no place in a Christian’s life, civil authorities are appointed
by God, and capital punishment is a hard question that is a matter of
conscience – not personal conscience as the world sees it but as we
define conscience – God within us.
To recap:
1) God Forgives: can be read “God judges, not us” which is to say
we forgive unconditionally (well, technically there are some
conditions but we won’t go into that now, save it for
Sacraments in year 2), because we do not know the heart, only
God does and He, not we, make that judgment call. We will be
judged on how we forgave not on whether the person we
forgive was sincere or not.
2) The Catholic Church is not explicitly against capital
punishment: this goes with the above in that forgiveness is not
blind – that is not how forgiveness works; at the same time we
can think of the Just War Theory and the principle of
proportionality. It has probably been best explained most
recently in Blessed John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae
(The Gospel of Life) issued March 25, 1995. The state, he
explains is well within its right of self-preservation to kill those
it deems a threat to the common good (within reason). We must
understand the rights of the state to do the things it feels are in
the states’ best interest belong to the state. HOWEVER, the
state needs to recognize that what it thinks is in its best interests
may not be the case. That’s where we come in. Let’s let JPII
say it best (EV 56):
56 “This is the context in which to place the problem of the death penalty. On this
matter there is a growing tendency, both in the Church and in civil society, to demand
that it be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely. The
T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
problem must be viewed in the context of a system of penal justice ever more in line
with human dignity and thus, in the end, with God's plan for man and society. The
primary purpose of the punishment which society inflicts is ‘to redress the disorder
caused by the offence.’46 Public authority must redress the violation of personal and
social rights by imposing on the offender an adequate punishment for the crime, as a
condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom. In this way
authority also fulfills the purpose of defending public order and ensuring people's
safety, while at the same time offering the offender an incentive and help to change his
or her behavior and be rehabilitated.47
It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the
punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the
extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other
words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as
a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are
very rare, if not practically non-existent.
In any event, the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church
remains valid: ‘If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an
aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must
limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of
the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.’”
(46) Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2266
(47) Cf. ibid.
Materials
Needed
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Attention
Grabber
PowerPoint
Computer
Overhead projector
The movie “Dead Man Walking”
“Who Deserves the Death Penalty” Handout 2, pg 52 of
Total Youth Ministry: Justice and Service
(10 min)
Clip from the movie “Dead Man Walking.”
The part where Sr. Prejean (Susan Sarandon) is able to get Matthew
Poncelot (Sean Penn) to confess to the killing of Walter Delacroix
(Peter Sarsgaard) just 30 minutes before his execution. The problem
with this excellent clip is finding a censored version. There is also a
later clip which is cleaner about Matthew being a “Child of God” but
may be more difficult to understand.
Button, Button, Who’s Got The Button?
The beauty of this activity is the harsh realization about how law and
order works in our American society. This can be translated to any
‘crime’ especially in oppressive states where any slight can be
construed as illegal.
One chair in the room has a small packet of white powder taped to its
bottom. Have everyone look and then look at the one who finds it and
tell them that they are under arrest. Then look at the people directly
around them and tell them the same thing. Inform them that the cops
arrest everyone because they are not supposed to decide who is innocent
and who is guilty – their job is to keep that law and arrest those who
break it.
T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
Prayer:
Presentation:
Activity:
Table Discussion:
Post Discussion:
Closing Prayer:
Outline
Prayer
Mt 6:9-15 or Mt 18:21-35.
PowerPoint.
Movie Clip or Button Button.
Questions.
None
Group Prayer/Petitions.
Introductory Prayer: (2 min, after candle is lit…)
Mt 6:9-15
“This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today
our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do
not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive
others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you
do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”
Mt 18:21-35
Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I
say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom
of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his
servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him
who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his
master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his
property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him
homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’
Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him
the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who
owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him,
demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ Falling to his knees, his fellow servant
begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his
fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and
went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him
and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because
you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I
had pity on you?’ Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt. o will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
Pre-discussion
Presentation
(15 min)
Justice and Law
How have we defined Justice here? <take answers> How does
that apply to legal justice?
<Power Point>
Activity / Table
Talk
Table Discussion (35 min)
Option 1 (Crime and Punishment Scenarios)
Use scenario questions below to get the kids thinking about
how each scenario should be handled, first by the criminal justice
system, and then by the Church. Point out that the different
T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
entities have different duties and responsibilities (civic, to protect
the society and the Church, to get everyone to heaven) and that
the response from each will be different in most instances, but
still each is “right” under its law—God’s or man’s. i.e.—we can
imprison, but we can also forgive and pray for the criminal’s
conversion. (incorporating forgiveness, compassion, loving thy
neighbor.)
Option 2 (Death Penalty Scenarios)
Use the scenarios provided in the Death Penalty Scenarios
handout and discuss whether or not the person should get the
death penalty. Ask the kids to explain their answers. Keep in
mind that according to the 10 Commandments and Jesus’ Law
stealing, adultery, lying, swearing, coveting, killing, etc. are
equally wrong (for example, it was death not to keep the Sabbath
holy! c.f. Ex 31:15 and to even think of another sexually is to
have committed adultery, which could get you stoned! c.f. Mt
5:28).
QUESTIONS:
1. Do all of these scenarios have equal footing, that is to say
are they all equally bad?
2. What makes one thing worse than another?
3. How does that thinking float with our ideas of Justice and
Forgiveness?
4. Can you forgive some things and not some other things?
Post-Discussion
Activity
(15 min).
Return to the room and ask any questions to Bob about any of these
scenarios, or any other they have, with respect to how the criminal justice
system (or the Church) would look at it and resolve it.—in other words,
check their answers. 
Closing
Announcements and Prayer (5 min).
Group Prayer
Intercessions
Reminder
Attachments
****
REMEMBER
IMPORTANCE
OF
RECORDING
ATTENDANCE!! This is a legal document! Please, write down on your
attendance sheet the name of any teen at your table, whether they are on
your roll or not.
Below:
 Death Penalty Scenarios
 Crime And Punishment Scenarios
T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
Scenario
A 7-year-old took three cookies from her grandparent’s cookie jar
An 11-year-old threw his baseball through his neighbor’s window
A 16-year-old boy broke into the locker of another student and stole an mp3 player
An 18-year-old neglected a 3-year-old while babysitting who then accidentally drowned
A 22-year-old female prostitute robbed and murdered a customer
A 29-year-old woman’s drunk driving resulted in the death of a mother and her two children
A 34-year-old jealous husband shot and killed his wife because of her flirting
A 53-year-old man raped an 18-year-old girl
A cult leader sends his followers to the home of a woman who is eight months pregnant. He
has ordered the cult members to kill her and everyone else in her home, which they do. He
shows no remorse, but he did not participate in the killings
A man trains terrorists and sends them on suicide attacks that kill thousands of innocent
people in an “enemy” country
A thief is caught by police in the act of robbing a convenience store. The thief grabs his gun
and kills a female police officer, who is the mother of two small children
A mentally challenged 18-year-old kills a woman who caught him robbing her home
A father kills a drug dealer who sold crack to his 13-year-old son
A woman participates in a very vicious murder, committed with an ax, but admits her crime
and professes her repentance, asking forgiveness of God and the victim’s family
A pedophile kidnaps, rapes, and then murders a 10-year-old girl
Two brother, 12 and 14, beat their father to death with a baseball bat after he had been
abusing them physically and emotionally for many years
Death?
T2 – Year 4: 14 – The Law and Justice
I don’t know how your kids are at sharing, so you may have to get the ball rolling with a story from you past. For
instance: when I was in college, I went to a sporting goods store across the street from school. I was in there a bit when I
noticed no one was behind the register. after “casing the joint” for a bit, I wound up taking a referee’s whistle out of the
store without paying for it. For a minute, I thought: I wonder what else I could go back in there and steal? It was an
adrenaline rush, but what did I do a couple of minutes later? Took the whistle back inside and replaced it where I’d found it.
(Honest I did. ) They may not share here, but at least they’ll be thinking, for the next part.
1. Have any of you ever stolen anything?
a) Caused damage to someone else’s property?
b) Taken an item of clothing, jewelry, makeup, food, game, from a store without paying?
c) Have any of you gotten back a $10 instead of a $1 in change and just taken it as “their
mistake?”
d) Have any of you taken something you knew was not yours, maybe at school (instead of either
leaving it alone, or turning it in to someone, or attempting to give it back to its rightful
owner)?
e) Maliciously damaged someone’s stuff OR reputation, with gossip or even untruths?
f) Anything like this?
1. How did you feel?
2. Did your feelings change later, after reflection?
3. Did that cause you to apologize? If so, how did you feel after that? If not, why not?
4. Did you go to confession? How did you feel afterwards?
2. Did anything like that ever happen TO you? Misplace phone, money, leave clothing
somewhere—only to find someone had taken it?
1. How did you feel then?
2. Did you want the person caught? Did you want them punished?
3. What if they asked you to forgive them?
4. Does it depend on what was taken from you—it’s value to you?
5. Or does it depend on who the person is who took it?
Let’s talk about other examples…
3. What should happen criminally (probation, county jail, prison?) to someone who:
1. Goes into target and steals a $20 set of earrings. (no big deal, right? lecture/warning?)
 a $150 watch? a little more serious…
 a $500 iphone?
2. What if it’s a 19 year old girl who is going to sell the item to get money to buy diapers and baby
food for her 8-month old daughter because she doesn’t have a job? (the 19 year old, not the
baby…)
3. What if that same girl steals Sudafed to use to make meth to sell to get the diapers and baby
food?
4. What if she steals the Sudafed for meth because her live-in boyfriend will beat her if she
doesn’t?
5. What if she refuses to steal, he says he’s going to beat her like he’s done many times before, and
she takes a steak knife and stabs him one time in the chest, killing him?
All of these are crimes, and need to be dealt with by the criminal justice system, but most assuredly
they will have different punishments in each scenario. Have them explain their choices.
now, using the same scenarios, ask them what the Church’s response should be to each…
(emphasizing compassion, forgiveness, understanding, not judging her)